Premier League relegation LIVE: Leeds trail to early Harry Kane goal as they battle with Leicester and Everton to stay up
Follow Mail Sport’s live blog as we take you through the relegation battle in today’s Premier League finale, with Leeds, Leicester and Everton battling to avoid the drop.
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Everton are the better side at Goodison and Dwight McNeil sends up another cross to the back post that Amadou Onana, stretching, heads over the crossbar.
We are roughly mid-way through the opening half and it’s as you were – Everton still goalless against Bournemouth but above the relegation line at the moment.
Leicester still goalless against West Ham, while Leeds are trailing to that early Harry Kane goal.
Leicester and Leeds down then as it stands.
Spurs could well have doubled their advantage at Elland Road – Dejan Kulusevski broke down the field and all he had to do was play in Son Heung-min – but the pass didn’t have enough weight on it.
Everton building up a head of steam midway through the first-half. They win another corner that is targeted at the head of James Tarkowski, but David Brooks does really well to clear.
Good chance for Demarai Gray to make what would be a crucial breakthrough for Everton.
He twists and turns inside the Bournemouth box, working space for a shot and it’s deflected behind for a corner.
That’s a lot better from Leicester. Jonny Evans plays a ball that gets in behind Aguerd and Kelechi Iheanacho lets himself down with a poor first touch.
Down the other end, Michail Antonio trying to squeeze home a curling shot but doesn’t get the execution correct.
The first chance of the game at the King Power as West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta fires wide of the mark from range.
Nothing of note attacking-wise from Leicester as yet.
A scrappy start at Goodison Park but that news filtering through from Leeds has given the already-raucous crowd another lift.
Little in the way of clear-cut chances in the opening minutes although Everton have been a little reluctant to force the issue.
An almost immediate chance for Leeds to restore hope with an equaliser but Robin Koch misses the target with a header following good build-up play by Rodrigo.
Leeds could not possibly have made a worse start…
That will silence the Elland Road crowd for sure as Harry Kane applies the finish after Pedro Porro cut the ball back into his path nicely. A VAR check for offside but it will stand and that’s a terrible opening to the afternoon for Leeds.
IAN LADYMAN: Extraordinary atmosphere at Goodison. There are people here wound up with all the excitement of those attending a cup final. If it goes well this will be some day of celebration. If it doesn’t it could get very ugly very quickly.
Everton fans doing their bit though, for sure. The vibrations will have been felt all the way down to the dressing rooms I would imagine.
Here we go… Who stays in the Premier League for another season? Who is set to join Southampton in the Championship?
The action is underway in our three featured games. Strap yourself in.
OK, just a few minutes longer to wait until battle is joined in the trio of games that will decide who stays up and who goes down from the Premier League.
At Goodison Park, it’s Everton taking on Bournemouth and starting above the drop line.
At Elland Road, Leeds United play Tottenham, and at the King Power it’s Leicester vs West Ham. Leicester and Leeds have work to do and need Everton to slip if they are to clamber to safety.
Everton manager Sean Dyche speaking to Sky Sports about their stretched squad for this crucial game:
“We are stretched but we think we have a squad that can go and win. It’s about having a framework and the freedom to go and play. There’s a lot of noise around it so it’s finding that balance.
“I want to see that again today – that ‘never say die’ attitude. We want that there. But it’s not just about attitude and motivation, we want a performance.
“We need to just focus on us. You can’t change what goes on around you.”
Given that artificial intelligence is probably about to take over all of our lives, why not use it to predict the outcome of today’s relegation battle?
Stats gurus Opta did precisely that… and you can find out the conclusions by clicking below.
Into the final 25 minutes now before kick-off as relegation matters are finally sorted out in the Premier League. Which two of Everton, Leicester or Leeds will be joining Southampton in the Championship next season?
We can certainly expect plenty of twists and turns. The mood appears very buoyant at Goodison but that will certainly change quickly if Leicester or Leeds grab an early goal.
Everton’s last-day escape in 1998 was nearly a painful experience for me in more ways than one – but thankfully we stayed up by the skin of our teeth.
We’d started the game in the bottom three but knew we could overtake Bolton if we got a better result than them. To our advantage, we were at home against Coventry and they had to go to Chelsea.
I’d been brought up a Blue and was absolutely desperate not to be relegated. But during the game I got smashed by a challenge and was left with a hole in my right knee.
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IAN LADYMAN AT GOODISON PARK: Here at Everton, the teams are in and it’s noticeable that the home team have not even managed to fill their bench.
Sean Dyche has two goalkeepers on it – Asmir Begovic and Andy Lonergan – but is still a man short. It’s not a bench full of game changers either.
Strikers Neil Maupay and Ellis Simms have two Premier League goals between them this season.
When Leeds United were last relegated from the Premier League in 2004, it was the lowest point of my career.
I was embarrassed to have been part of such a great club’s demise and as captain it hit me particularly hard.
It was only when Leeds finally returned to the top flight 16 years later under Marcelo Bielsa that I finally got over it. Now here we are with supposedly a three per cent chance of survival going into the final day.
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We will be focusing exclusively on the battle to avoid the drop on this live blog, but if you want to follow the latest scores and updates from all 10 of this afternoon’s Premier League games, we have you covered.
As well as the relegation scrap, we have a Europa Conference League place to be decided too.
My colleague SAMUEL DRAPER will have you totally covered on the link below.
Leeds: Robles, Ayling, Kristensen, Wober, Cooper, Struijk, McKennie, Forshaw, Koch, Harrison, Rodrigo.
Subs: Meslier, Firpo, Aaronson, Roca, Summerville, Rutter, Gnonto, Greenwood, Chilokoa-Mullen.
Tottenham: Forster, Emerson, Sanchez, Lenglet, Davies, Porro, Bissouma, Skipp, Son, Kulusevski, Kane
Subs: Austin, Richarlison, Danjuma, Tanganga, Moura, Sarr, Craig, Alonso, Abbott.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
Just one change made by Sam Allardyce to the Leeds side that lost to West Ham seven days ago.
Patrick Bamford wasn’t able to recover from a hamstring injury and so drops out of the squad. Rodrigo takes his place.
Leicester: Iversen, Castagne, Faes, Evans, Thomas, Soumare, Dewsbury-Hall, Maddison, Tielemans, Barnes, Iheanacho.
Subs: Vardy, Smithies, Souttar, Amartey, Daka, Ricardo Pereira, Mendy, Praet, Tete.
West Ham: Fabianski, Kehrer, Coufal, Aguerd, Cresswell, Downes, Rice, Benrahma, Lucas Paqueta, Fornals, Antonio.
Subs: Zouma, Lanzini, Areola, Cornet, Ings, Bowen, Ogbonna, Soucek, Emerson Palmieri.
Referee: Simon Hooper (Wiltshire)
Leicester City manager Dean Smith has made three changes to the team that drew 0-0 at Newcastle United on Monday night.
The big surprise is that Jamie Vardy, the club’s record Premier League goalscorer, starts among the substitutes.
James Maddison and Harvey Barnes, who both dropped out of that very defensive team at St James’ Park, are restored this afternoon. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall also returns to the team.
Harry Souttar and Wilfred Ndidi come out of the side.
Everton: Pickford, Coady, Mina, Tarkowski, McNeil, Gueye, Garner, Onana, Doucoure, Gray, Iwobi.
Subs: Holgate, Keane, Begovic, Maupay, Lonergan, McAllister, Simms, Welch.
AFC Bournemouth: Travers, Smith, Zabarnyi, Senesi, Kelly, Billing, Lerma, Brooks, Christie, Ouattara, Solanke.
Subs: Stephens, Cook, Mepham, Randolph, Stacey, Vina, Moore, Anthony, Sadi.
Referee: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire)
Sean Dyche has made two alterations from Everton’s dramatic 1-1 draw with Wolves last Saturday.
Nathan Patterson is out and is replaced by Conor Coady in the back line. There is no Dominic Calvert-Lewin up front, with Demarai Gray playing instead.
We will bring you the confirmed team line-ups from our three featured games in a few minutes’ time.
I see so many differences between this Leicester City side and the one I played in almost 20 years ago when the club last suffered relegation from the Premier League.
We’d just been promoted, so, from the outset, we knew we were in for a long, tough season. For this Leicester team, it’s all come as a bit of a shock. Quite a few, including the players, have been caught off guard.
Micky Adams brought in a host of players ahead of that 2003-04 season. The squad was full. Most of us had plenty of Premier League experience but coming to the end of our careers, the likes of Les Ferdinand and Paul Dickov. We had good, steady players but not many match-winners.
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Although today’s focus is on who will be dropping out of the Premier League, it would be remiss of us not to say congratulations to Luton Town after they won yesterday’s Championship play-off final.
The Hatters secured their top-flight return after 31 years away with a penalty shoot-out win over Coventry City at Wembley.
Kenilworth Road will be hosting the cream of football talent next season with Luton joining Burnley and Sheffield United in securing promotion.
CLICK BELOW to read Matt Barlow’s match report from Wembley.
The Everton players made their entrance at Goodison a short while ago and the nerves in stomachs must be building now.
Dean Smith made a plea for unity as Leicester try to secure the win on Sunday that will give them a chance of avoiding relegation.
It has been a dire season for the Foxes, who must beat West Ham and hope Everton fail to take three points against Bournemouth if they are to remain in the Premier League.
Supporters have booed the team in recent games and called into the question the commitment of the players, who nevertheless responded with a battling 0-0 draw at Newcastle on May 23 to ensure Leicester stayed in touch.
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Sam Allardyce admits keeping Leeds United up would be his Greatest Escape of all as he bids to pull off a miracle.
The 68-year-old has a proven track record as a survival specialist but relegation looms heading into Sunday’s visit of Tottenham.
According to Opta, Leeds’ likelihood of going down stands at 97% and Big Sam knows his side simply must win and hope Everton and Leicester slip up to have any chance.
Allardyce won Premier League survival scraps during spells in charge of Bolton, Blackburn, Crystal Palace, Sunderland and Everton before suffering his first relegation with West Brom in his last job.
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DOMINIC KING: Everton have been a fixture in the top flight since 1954 but their Premier League status is on the line.
Their game against Bournemouth on Sunday has been billed as Goodison Park’s biggest of modern times and has dominated every supporter’s thoughts.
Mail Sport spent the week canvassing opinions of fans on the brink.
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With their healthier goal difference, Leicester appear better placed than Leeds to pounce on any Everton slip ups this afternoon.
James Maddison and Harvey Barnes, pictured arriving at the King Power a little earlier, will doubtless by absolutely key to their chances.
Here’s the man Leeds fans hope will be their miracle worker this afternoon.
Sam Allardyce, not quite with his tie threaded, greets fans as he arrives at Elland Road a short time ago.
He came in to try and save them with just four games of the season left. So far, they haven’t registered a win, taking one point from nine available.
And yet, hope springs eternal they will somehow pull off a great escape today.
You could hardly blame fans of Everton, Leeds and Leicester City on Sunday if they were to follow the example set by Toffees winger Dwight McNeil.
With so much at stake in the fight for survival, McNeil decided to give last weekend’s televised matches involving Everton’s relegation rivals a swerve. He watched Michael Jordan’s inspirational basketball documentary The Last Dance instead.
‘I love watching football. I’ll usually watch any game but those two – I just couldn’t,’ says McNeil. ‘I didn’t see Leeds on the Sunday, I was out with my missus for the afternoon. On Monday night [Leicester at Newcastle], we decided to watch the film and check the result afterwards.’
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The streets around Goodison Park are absolutely thronged with Everton fans preparing to welcome the players to the stadium ahead of today’s crunch game.
Let’s take a look at the relegation permutations, then, ahead of this final afternoon in the top-flight.
As you can see from the table, Everton come into the games sitting just above the relegation places with a two-point advantage over Leicester in 18th and Leeds in 19th.
If Everton beat Bournemouth, they will be safe regardless of what happens in the other games. They will also stay up if neither Leicester nor Leeds win their games.
In order to stay up, Leicester need to beat West Ham and hope that Everton fail to beat Bournemouth. The Foxes do have the better goal difference compared to the Toffees.
For Leeds to stay up from their present position of 19th, they need to beat Tottenham at Elland Road while hoping that Everton lose and Leicester fail to win.
4.30pm kick-offs
Arsenal vs Wolves
Aston Villa vs Brighton
Brentford vs Manchester City
Chelsea vs Newcastle United
Crystal Palace vs Nottingham Forest
Everton vs Bournemouth
Leeds vs Tottenham
Leicester vs West Ham
Man United vs Fulham
Southampton vs Liverpool
Three teams, just one safe place, one dramatic final afternoon of the Premier League season in prospect.
Everton, Leicester City and Leeds United all in jeopardy, with two of them following Southampton down into the Championship come 6.30pm.
It’s Everton who begin the afternoon in an advantageous position, with their two-point cushion above the drop zone.
They know a win over Bournemouth at Goodison Park will render whatever Leicester or Leeds do academic.
But if they can’t achieve that, it opens the door for either of the others to pull off a dramatic escape.
Leicester are at home to a West Ham team who may be preoccupied with their Europa Conference League final. Leeds, meanwhile, entertain a Tottenham Hotspur side who look very beatable indeed.
So, it promises to be a vintage, drama-packed final day in the top-flight and you’ll be able to follow all action from these three games with us right here.
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